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Committee advances Bristol charter amendments to allow at-large votes, shorten ordinance effective period
Summary
The committee advanced a private act from Bristol that would allow at-large voting for three council districts, shorten ordinance effective time from 17 to 7 days, update property-tax administrative language, and authorize the city recorder to serve as Board of Education treasurer; Representative Davis raised concerns about racial-discrimination risk given local demographics.
Chairman Crawford, the bill sponsor, presented a multi-part private act for the city of Bristol and asked the committee to "hit the high spots." He said the charter changes would make three city districts effectively subject to at-large voting ("Anybody could vote for anybody as long as they live within the city limits of Bristol in those districts"), shorten the period before ordinances take effect from 17 days to 7 days, and update property-tax administrative language to match the city's current software and practices.
Representative Davis questioned whether at-large voting could disenfranchise dispersed minority populations, stating he had found the Bristol area to be about "92% white" in his research and suggesting the minority population is not centrally located. Chairman Crawford replied the request came from the city council and that the changes are intended to align the charter with current operations. The committee voted to send the bill to State and Local Government (clerk recorded 11 ayes, 0 no's).
